India supports 'Afghan-led, Afghan-owned' peace process: Krishna

As world leaders backed handing over Afghanistan's security responsibility to its government by 2014, India today said that any new process to stabilise the war-torn nation must be fully "Afghan-led and Afghan-owned" and sought an end to sustenance and sanctuaries for terrorists from outside.

As world leaders backed handing over Afghanistan's security responsibility to its government by 2014, India today said that any new process to stabilise the war-torn nation must be fully "Afghan-led and Afghan-owned" and sought an end to sustenance and sanctuaries for terrorists from outside.

The international community should ensure that there is no selectivity in dealing with terrorism, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said in a statement at the international conference on Afghanistan, where he supported the peace process which, he added, should be "inclusive and transparent."

"Terrorism cannot be compartmentalised. Today, one cannot distinguish between al-Qaeda and plethora of terrorist organisations which have imbibed the goals and techniques of al-Qaeda.

"It is therefore, essential to ensure that support, sustenance and sanctuaries for terrorist organisations from outside Afghanistan are ended forthwith," he told the delegates, including his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi who was among the 30-odd Foreign Ministers present at the meet.

He said any new process to stabilise the war-torn country must be "fully Afghan-led and Afghan-owned and carry all sections of the nation's population."

Describing India and Afghanistan as "historic friends," Krishna, speaking to a galaxy of world leaders including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said New Delhi has contributed to this country's efforts in nation-building and reconstruction "entirely in accordance with the priorities of the Afghan government and people."

"The international community must learn lessons from past experiences at negotiating with fundamentalist and extremist organisations and ensure that any peace process is conducted in an inclusive and transparent manner," Krishna said in a statement at the International Conference on Afghanistan here.

"India also supports Afghanistan's efforts towards peace and reintegration. But for such effort to succeed, it must be fully Afghan-led and Afghan-owned and carry all sections of Afghanistan's population together as well as abide by the redlines agreed to at the London Conference," he said.

The London Conference on Afghanistan, he noted, had emphasised on giving up violence, cutting off all links with terrorism – whether 'jehadi' or state-sponsored – and accepting the democratic and pluralistic values of the Afghan Constitution, including women's rights.